The Girl in the Water
by SerenSplash989
Summary: 16-year-old Dylan Parker moves to the Gold Coast of Australia with his parents and younger sister. He in no way is excited about the move, but this soon changes when he encounters a mysterious girl swimming near his new home. After following her to an unusual place called Mako Island, a strange friendship is born between human and the decidedly non-human. All OC's. Working Title.
1. Prologue: The Move

The first thing I noticed about the house wasn't even the house at all. It was the shore of the ocean, twenty feet away from our front porch.

"Isn't that a construction hazard, or something?" Claire asked. Her eyebrow was raised pretentiously. "How did your real estate agent get you guys into buying this for us?"

"It's high tide right now, Claire-bear," said my mother, who was driving us up towards the closed garage. "That's why it looks so close. And don't worry, it's completely safe."

"Try telling me that when there's a hurricane," the thirteen-year-old mumbled.

"Come on, Dylan," said Mom, ignoring Claire's comment. "Help your father bring in some stuff."

I unplugged my ear buds, which had long ago stopped playing music when my iPod ran out of battery, and sighed. "Yeah, okay." She opened the door for me and helped me out.

The house was quite a bit larger than the one we had back in Wisconsin, and a lot more white. There was a porch in the front, which went out overlooking the ocean, and a porch in the back, with stairs to the ground where a large brick circle sat. In the center was a fire pit, surrounded by a big, sweeping hammock and three wooden benches. Wind chimes rang out from atop the larger porch facing the sea.

"Here you go," said my dad, who handed a large cardboard box to me. Over the tape on the top, the words _Dylan's Room _had been written in Sharpie in my mom's flowing cursive. The box was a lot heavier than it looked, and I almost dropped it. "Go bring that up to your room."

I was still tired from the plane and car ride, so I at first nodded and started walking towards the house. It was only when I was facing the front door (at least I thought it was the front… it might have been the backside of the house) when I realized I didn't actually know where my room was.

Claire, on the other hand, looked like she knew exactly what she was doing. She carried her box- the first of many, I'm sure- towards a different door, opened it, and continued in with a purpose. I figured that she must know at least the layout of the house, somehow, so I followed her. She didn't take too kindly to that.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she noticed I was going up the same flight of stairs as her.

"Um…"

"Your room's that way." She pointed towards stairs on the other side of the living room, parallel to the ones we were walking up. "Didn't you look at the house plans like mom said to?"

"...Yes?"

She rolled her eyes and walked up the rest of the steps, slamming the large oak door behind her at the top. I shrugged and walked towards the stairs to my room.

The door to my room was identical to Claire's. I set my box down with a large _thud_, and opened it. The walls were light brown, and the carpet dark brown. A large window sat on the other side of the room facing the ocean, and another small one on the right side, facing a walkway I hadn't seen earlier that leads towards some rocks on the beach. I would have been excited that I could sneak out the window and go down the path, but there was the small issue that I was on the second floor.

I went back towards the doorway and started pushing my box into the room. When it was situated in the center, I left to go grab my bags from the flight.

_I need to find my charger… _I thought to myself, wanting to listen to music. _And my swimsuit. Maybe later I'll go for a swim._

With a look out the window downstairs at the rest of my family, Claire, who had gone back out to get more boxes, included, I mentally added, _Alone. _A 20 hour plane ride and a night in a hotel, before the three hour drive all with my family was enough bonding time, thank you very much.

"Linda!" I heard Dad call out to Mom. "Didn't the movers say they'd be here yesterday?"

My mom brushed her soft brown locks out of her eyes and checked something in her purse. "No… they'll be here tomorrow." My dad gritted his teeth. I knew that meant he was going to argue about something, so I made sure to take my duffel bag in the backseat, along with another smaller box from the backseat, quickly.

Right before I made it back inside, I heard him ask, "Then why are we here NOW?" My mother's sigh was almost audible from fifty feet away.

Claire came in right behind me and shut the door. "Do they ever stop?" she whined.

"I'm just glad it's the first fight they've had since we left," I admitted. Claire looked at me weirdly.

"No it's not. Were you even there on the plane?"

I had been. I distinctly remember my ear buds positioned firmly into my ear sockets the entire time as well.

I just shrugged again and went up towards my room. I imagine Claire rolling her eyes at me.

It was funny how everything worked out genetically in our family. Claire got almost everything from our dad, who has blonde hair, tan skin, and blue eyes. She even got his vicious temper. Although, from Mom she did receive her extremely know-it-all personality. Me, on the other hand? Sometimes people ask if I'm adopted. That's how much I _don't _resemble my family. The only thing I got from either of them was Mom's dark brown, almost-black wavy hair. My own eyes were green, something my Dad assured me his Grandpa had, and skin a lot paler than the rest of my family. I feel certain that this will change, though, now that we've entered this strange realm known as Australia (I heard that almost everything you find in the wild can kill you. I don't doubt it).

And my personality? God knows where that came from. Everyone in my family is so… put-together, if that's the right word. Everything needs to be planned out and well-organized, otherwise it's like there's a mass panic attack. The family reunion two years ago, where it rained on our annual picnic up in Stillwater, MN, had been a disaster. You would have thought it was World War 3, but no. Just a little rain that the weatherman didn't predict.

I, on the other hand, couldn't be less like my family. Sarcasm must not be a genetic trait, because I've never heard a snide remark fall from any of my family member's lips. Especially from Claire, who took everything way too seriously. Sometimes, I truly did wonder if I was adopted, but due to my mother's obsessive scrapbooking, there is a documented trail filled with pictures of her pregnancy and even my- ew- birth. I found something about that disappointing, I think.

The door downstairs opened, which must have meant Mom and Dad had stopped their squabbling and decided to bring in what they could until the mover's showed up. I, personally, would be okay with it if everything there got lost in shipping, since most of it was old scrapbooks and ancient pieces of furniture passed down from my Great Aunt Karen. The only thing I would really miss is my sister's posters of One Direction… ha, kidding. I'm definitely kidding.

All of my important things I had packed in my two boxes: my clothes, CDs, laptop, movies, random trinkets from around my room, and the one scrapbook I actually cared about, filled with pictures of my friends and I from back in Wisconsin.

Yet again, another thing different between me and my family. They're all excited about this move to the other side of the world. My parents, because of the incredible job opportunity for them- both of them being marine biologists and all, I suppose it makes sense- and my sister… well, she might act like she hates it out of her strange desire to oppose everyone else's opinions, but we all know that it's been her dream to live by the beach ever since our vacation to California.

I, unfortunately, had a life. I had friends, and for once in my life, plans for the future. Now? Who knows what life's going to be like in _Australia_. For God's sake, they start school in January! And all the seasons are completely opposite. It's incredibly unholy.

When I had finished unpacking what I could, something that took a lot longer than it needed to due to the fact I listened to music the entire time, I walked back outside to find my mattress. My parents had attached all of ours to the top of the car.

Once outside, though, I realized that the car was no longer there, and all of the mattresses had been piled in the middle of the living room floor. On the door was a piece of paper from a sticky pad. It read:

_Honey, we're going into town for some groceries. Claire came with, and we thought you'd be pretty tired so we'll let you sleep. If you do wake up, do whatever you want besides going for a swim. It's not safe to go alone. :-) Love you, xoxo -Mom and Dad_

I smiled. Finally, something to do.

I went upstairs to grab my swimsuit.

**(A/N: Hey everybody! I'm back... after a super long hiatus. I'm sorry about the long wait, and you can go read on my Profile all about it. Anyways, this is the prologue to a story I've started about a boy named Dylan who meets a mermaid. The girl's story will follow a lot similar to H2O's, including her two friends that are also mermaids, but this story will all be from the perspective of Dylan. Which will be cool, since everything will be slowly revealed to him, instead of the main character knowing everything at once. I don't want to spoil too much, but I will tell you that the girl's names will be Ruby Devonte, Elaine Pratt, and Tara Mccallum. Hope you enjoy!)**


	2. Chapter 1: Dying Thoughts

It's a known fact about me that I don't usually do what I'm supposed to. Whether it's defying my parents (_No, you can't go out tonight_), annoying my sister (_Who drew this mustache on Harry's face?!)_, or simply getting into something I wasn't supposed to (_Why is the frosting can empty?)._

I guess I should have seen it coming that one day, my bad judgement would actually get me into trouble.

It really was nice out that day. The sky was blue, the grass green, and the water cool, although a bit more salty than I was used to. To me, it looked like the perfect day for a swim.

Before that, though, I remembered that I had promised to call Carter when I reached our new house. So, I found my cell phone, made sure it was charged, and looked through my contact list for him. The phone rang within seconds.

"Hello?" said the person on the other end.

"Hey, Carter," I said with a smile. I hadn't spoken to any of my friends since the day before I left on the plane. "How's things?"

"Oh, man!" he answered, laughing. "I should be asking you! How's Australia?!"

"Um, hot." It was true. Even with swimming shorts and no shirt on, I was still baking in the heat. "But get this; our house is literally twenty feet away from the ocean."

"Dude! That's crazy! Have you gone, like, surfing or something yet?"

"I wouldn't have the first idea on how to surf. I'll stick with swimming for now, thanks."

"Have you gone for a swim yet, then?"

I looked out the window towards the beach. I imagined it calling out for me and snickered. "Not yet, but I will when I hang up."

"Oh, sweet. I better let you go then, I don't want to deprive you of your experiences in a different _fucking country!" _I rolled my eyes. Carter could get pretty animated when he wanted to.

"Well, I don't need to go right-"

"_Yo!_" I heard Carter shout in the background. "_Keep it down! We don't want to wake my parents up!" _

Something in my chest panged at those words. I wouldn't say it was my heart- that's just corny- but it was definitely something. And I recognized the feeling too: jealousy.

"So… what were you saying?" Carter asked when he came back to the phone, completely oblivious to the effect his earlier words had on me.

I cleared my throat. "Nothing. Just that you were right, I'm probably gonna go for a swim now."

"Sick, bro. Have fun!"

"Yeah, you too." The phone clicked as one of us hung up. I don't know if it was me or him.

I stared at the phone in my hand for awhile, thinking of what I had heard at the other end of Carter's line.

_Sounds like he moved on fast_, I said to myself. I quickly ignored those thoughts, though. I mean, what was I expecting my friends to do? Mope around all day?

I set my phone down and slipped on my flip flops. Carter was right. I should take advantage of the beachside literally right across from my house.

The way I saw it, there were two options in front of me. Well, more than that if you count any options that don't involve swimming (which I didn't). I could either go swimming right in front of the house, where I could be easily spotted in case there was any danger, or go along the path outside my window towards the rocks that kept me enclosed from the rest of the world. It didn't take a lot of thought before I made up my mind.

One thing I'd like to note is that the rocks were a lot pointier at the top than I had originally thought. It was difficult, to say the least, trying to maneuver between them with bare feet. I eventually reached a rock that I climbed over which sloped downwards. This one was smooth and wet, and I almost slipped walking over it. Almost, meaning… yeah, I slipped.

"Ouch," I winced, touching my head that had bumped the rock. My hand rubbed that spot for a moment, trying to tame the swelling.

I heard a splash just then, from the water. But when I looked, nothing was there. I wondered to myself, as I continued comforting my bruise, if there had been a sea turtle or something. Investing in a waterproof camera suddenly seemed like a good idea.

When I was sure I was fine, I stood back up and faced the water.

Despite the lacking of sea turtle sightings, it was a beautiful, crystal-clear blue. It lapped at the shore in a rhythmic pattern, back and forth, back and forth. When I stepped forwards, my toes felt wonderfully cool, a break from the intense heat this entire frickin' continent lives in. I walked forward into the waves. It was so exhilarating, I hardly noticed when my legs wobbled from the force of the currents.

I looked up, and saw that a large wave was coming. I probably should have been frightened, but instead, my eyes widened with excitement. With a huge grin, I shouted out and jumped into the wave.

It was like nothing I've ever seen before. I'd been to wave pools before at waterparks, but they couldn't compare. I was tossing and turning and there was salt in my mouth and nose and I didn't know which way was up and down and somehow I didn't drown which is good and when it was done I stood there, muscles like jelly and my body shaking all over.

It was crazy, and I loved it.

Swimming out deeper into the sea, I kept going farther and farther out, until, eventually, when the waves came there wasn't any ground to push up off of. Some part of me, I suppose, realized that I was heading into dangerous territory when there was at least a football field's length between me and the shore, but I took that part of my consciousness and squashed it flat. It was just too damn fun.

Eventually, the waves stopped. When that happened, I took to lying on my back, just enjoying the summer sun (was it even summer? I couldn't be sure in this strange place. It seemed like every season was summer). Not thinking about the move, or my friends, or even the fact that I'd have to start school next week. Just floating with the tide.

Something caught my eye, however. Quite a ways away, there was a large island in the middle of the body of water. I thought about how long it would take me to swim there, and then decided that even I have a limit to my stupidity.

I sat back up, treading water and getting ready to head back. What I hadn't noticed, though, was how strong the waves had been getting while I was relaxing. And by the time I did notice, it was too late.

A large wave, one of the largest I'd seen yet, crashed over me, pushing me deep into the surf. I came back up, coughing and spluttering for breath. Before I could catch my bearings, I was put back under again.

The waves were higher and stronger, and there was no longer any ground to stabilize myself with. What had seemed fun earlier was now nothing short of frightening.

"Shit…" I gasped when I came back up for air. The waves were coming at an even faster pace, and my stomach was starting to hurt. I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it back up after a few.

My head turned around towards the shore. I didn't know how long it would take me to get there, but I had to try. I frantically swung my arms forward, using the front stroke to get me closer. But I was tragically overwhelmed by the violent ocean, and I hardly made it a few feet before I sunk into the water.

Under different circumstances, the experience would have been amazing. There were all sorts of small, brilliantly colored fish, with coral and other sea life inhabiting the floor. It was beautiful… although came at the price of me having no air to breathe. When I tried to get back up for oxygen, the currents pushed me back under again. Inside my head, it was starting to throb. I knew I didn't have long until I'd either pass out, or have to open my mouth.

For reasons I cannot begin to fathom, I thought of my family then. Which is something I find disappointing. I would have thought my dying thoughts would have been of something at least a little more interesting.

My second thought was, however, _I wonder how my friends will react to my death. _I also noted how bitter it felt.

_No… _I thought to myself. _I can't have my last thought be of revenge either… even though coming back as a ghost would be the sickest thing, like, ever._

My third thought was _Damn, I forgot to clear my internet history! _

Better… but still, I was opting for something more exciting.

This would have continued for some time had not something even stranger than my dying thoughts of my family occurred. I know it was probably from oxygen deprivation, but I could have sworn I saw a streak of gold flash by me.

_Is that a fish? _I asked myself, but I didn't think about it as much as I would have, had I not been mere moments away from drowning.

_Aw, shit! _I thought as I realized that now my dying thoughts were something as blatantly stupid as "is that a fish?"

Then I saw it again. My interest in the flash of color grew, and I struggled to look around me to see what it was. Instead of gold, however, I found something that was black. And it kind of looked like… hair?

The next thing I knew, arms- _human _arms- were lifting me out of the surf, and I gasped as my lungs were filled with air. Pure, wonderful, air.

Relief was short-lived, however. Before I could take another deep breath, or get a good look at my savior, there was another wave coming down over my head. Before it could crash, though, the same arms took hold of my waist and pulled me out of the way. I sped away from the turbulence at an incredible speed. Water sprayed in my face, and I coughed some up more than once.

All of a sudden, I was back at the shore. Although my eyes were squeezed shut from the ride, I knew I was out of the water when my back hit warm sand, the heat of the sun caressing my face. I took some deep breaths and then, with a groan, tried to open my eyes, which were crusty from the salty ocean.

To my surprise, above me was a girl. Her bright cerulean blue eyes were looking into mine, and her hair- the same deep ebony I had seen in the water- draped over the sides of my face.

"Are you alright?" she asked nervously. Her voice was like an angel's.

_Oh my God, _I groaned internally. _Did I seriously just think that?!_

"Um…" I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I think so… Did you just save me?"

She pushed a section of hair behind her left ear. She still looked kind of nervous. "I'm pretty sure."

Groaning again, I attempted to sit up, but the girl pushed my chest back down to the ground.

"Are you going to let me get up?" I jokingly asked. She shook her head. "Uh… why not?"

"No, just… wait, will you?" She glanced behind her. I had a feeling there was something she didn't want me to see.

"Are you naked or something?" I questioned.

The girl laughed. It sounded beautiful. "No, I'm not naked."

"Then why can't I sit up?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you," she said. "I just saved your life."

"That's true."

"Just… do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Close your eyes." I did as she asked, and, to be honest, can't deny I was hoping she was going to kiss me. Or that she really was naked.

"Now what?" I asked her.

I'm not sure what she was doing, but it was definitely not kissing me. In fact, I think she was scooting away.

"Wait, where are you going?" I started to sit up.

"You said you'd keep your eyes closed!"

"They are closed!" I protested. My hands went up to cover my eyes even further. "See?"

"Okay. Thanks." I could hear a splash in the water and knew she was back in it.

"Hey! I had some questions to ask you! Like, how did you get me here so fast? And, where are you going? What's your name? Are you free this Friday night?" That last one was only partly a joke.

"Sorry. Can't answer any of those."

"Not even your name?"

"Well, what's yours?"

"Dylan."

"Nice to meet you Dylan."

Another splash. Unable to help myself, I removed my hands and looked. What I saw almost made my jaw drop. Yes, like in Sunday morning cartoons. All the way to the ground.

A large golden tail, larger than anything I've ever seen except for maybe in dinosaur exhibits at the museum, fell into the water after the strange girl. When she swam away deeper into the water, I could have sworn that the tail branched off right from her waist. Like a…

"Mermaid." My eyes widened as I said it aloud. "She's a mermaid."

Then, just when I thought I've seen it all, a giant wake in the water suddenly shoots away from the shore. All the way to that island I had seen earlier.

When the wave disappeared, I blinked. Then I blinked again. And again. And again. And then again. I still couldn't make sense of what had just happened.

Farther away from me and my utter confusion, I heard something that sounded like a car driving into a driveway. In my state of mind, it took me a while to realize that's exactly what it was.

"Crap!" I got up and ran as fast as I could back down the path towards the house. In all the commotion, I had forgotten I was on a time sensitive schedule.

The rocks were as treacherous going over the second time, but I braved through it all and made it back to the house in record time. Opening the door, I grabbed a towel I had forgotten to take with me and dried up as best as I could. I put my flip flops near the door and ran up the stairs towards my room. Just as I shut the door, I heard the door downstairs open.

"That place was amazing!" gushed Claire. "Best smoothies of my entire life!"

Must have been, if she's that excited about them, I thought to myself. This was while I was changing out of my swimsuit as fast as possible, into the same outfit I had been wearing that day.

"They were good, weren't they dear?" I heard Mom say, probably to Dad.

"Mmhmm… hey, do you think Dylan'll still be sleeping?"

"No… see, look, he hasn't even brought his mattress up. I wonder what he's up to."

I panicked. Due to the fact that none of the furniture had made it yet, I had no where to stash my wet suit. The towel was okay to stuff in my duffel bag since it wasn't too wet, but if I put my swimsuit into one of my bags it would be too easy to see the water leaking from it. So, I did what any logical person would do.

"Honey?" asked my mom after she opened the door. "Why is your window open?"

I looked downwards to where I had thrown my suit. "Just wanted to get some air." I shut the window behind me. "I'm good now."

"Alright." She smiled at me, oblivious to the lie (like always). "So, how did you spend your afternoon?"

"Well, I… went for a walk."

"Really? Did you like what you saw?"

"Uh…" I thought of the mysterious girl- or whatever she was- that had saved me. "Yeah. Definitely."

"Good, good." She walked closer to me and put her hands on my shoulders. "I mean, I know how difficult this move is for you. For everybody, really." Her arms brought me in for a hug. "I just hope that we all enjoy ourselves here. You know?"

"Yeah… I know." My thoughts once again returned to the girl in the water, and the strange tail she had. "And I think you're right. I think I will enjoy it here."

"Really?" She pulled back and looked me in the eyes. Her smile took up her whole face. "That's amazing." She pecked me on the cheek, causing me to blush.

"Mooom!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she laughed. She let go and walked towards the stairs. "Now, come on. We brought home dinner. You'll be happy to know there are plenty of fast food joints around here. Although, the accent is certainly something I'll have to get used to…"

I stopped listening as she trailed off. My mind was on other matters.

Turning back towards the window, I looked out at the path towards the rocks, and then even farther, out towards an island that couldn't be seen from this distance. An island I intended on visiting very soon.

**(A/N: So? Tell me what you think! Leave me reviews please, I live off of them! You can now start to see where this story is heading... kind of? Maybe? Well, don't doubt that there will be some form of plot twists. I'm not completely boring. Anyways, for those of you that also read my first H2O story, you should be happy to know that the next chapter is almost done! However, I won't be posting it until I finish all of the other chapters until the story is finished. That way, everyone will know there is no wait in between chapters. Well, there will be a little wait, but not much. Maybe a day or something. Once it's finished, I plan on doing a redo of it, since my writing has greatly improved since I started writing it, which was almost two years ago. And for this fic, I wouldn't expect another chapter as quickly as this one got up, but do expect it soon. I've got a lot of inspiration for this story!)**


	3. Chapter 2: The Locket

"Dylan, go help your sister bring some things up into her room."

I glanced at my dad in disbelief. "But I just finished getting all my furniture up into my room by myself. She shouldn't get it any easier than me!"

"Yes, well, she's a lot younger than you."

"Only by three years," I grumbled. My dad just gave me a pointed look. Knowing I couldn't do anything about it, I walked over to Claire's staircase and walked up it, making sure everyone in the house could hear the thud of each and every footstep I took.

"Jesus Christ, Dylan," said Claire when I opened her door. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail. "No need to get so loud."

"Shut up." I looked around her room. "So, what is it you need help with?"

"Well, I don't trust you with any of my posters…"

"With good reason," I nodded.

"...So I'm going to need you to haul up my vanity."

I looked downstairs towards the white vanity I had thought belonged to my mother. "That's _yours_?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Dylan. That thing's in my room everyday for the past thirteen years. You've had to have seen it before now."

"No… I'm pretty sure I've never seen that in my life."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Just goes to show how perceptive you are."

"Hey!"

She waved me away. "Just, go. If you have troubles bringing it up, ask Dad."

"He's packing away his own things right now."

"Then I guess you'll have to do it all on your own," she said with a smile. I considered punching her, then decided I'd have my revenge in some other way. Preferably on those awful headshots of boy band members she kept on her walls.

"Whatever." I trudged back downstairs and grasped the edge of the vanity. It wasn't as heavy as if looked earlier. Getting a better grip, I hoisted it up and started walking up the stairs. It fell a few times, but in the end I made it back to Claire's bedroom.

"There," I said, dropping the thing in the middle of her room. I made my way to leave, but Claire stopped me.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"Away from you," I answered honestly.

She pointed towards the vanity. "You can't just leave it there."

"And why not?"

"Because that's not where it _goes_."

"Well, you can figure out where it _goes _by yourself. I have other things to be doing." Claire threw her arms up in the air.

"Like what? You have no friends here, you can't drive anymore and Mom and Dad wouldn't let you go into town anyways, we're not allowed to go swimming alone, and if you're not helping me you'll just get pulled into helping Mom or Dad. And, if none of the above, I suppose you could go for a walk. But, to be honest, I think you've gone on plenty of those the past few days."

All of that was technically true. No friends, no license (turns out the driver's test here in Australia is a whole lot more complicated, and you can't even get your license until you're 18 years old), and no permission to do any of the things I'd like to be doing… considering the only thing I want to do is go look for the strange girl I had seen three days ago. My mind still couldn't wrap around what exactly had happened, and a part of me believes it was all an oxygen deprivation induced hallucination. A part which seems to be growing larger by the hour.

So, instead of going to look for that island or the girl, I've been busying myself by listening to music during long walks on the beach. It sounds romantic, but really its a focusing method of mine. I've been trying to think of any way I could make it out there to Mako Island, but so far, no luck.

I had learned about Mako at dinner, the night I first saw the girl.

"_Could you pass me the ketchup?" Claire asked. Dad passed it to her and she mumbled thanks while squirting some onto her bacon cheeseburger._

_I had barely touched my dinner. The mushroom swiss my parents had ordered for me was still intact on my paper plate, due to the fact I was too busy thinking about the girl and the island._

_We were eating dinner on a makeshift dinner table: the island that had already been installed in the kitchen by the people who first built the house. Our real table wasn't going to show up until the next day, so it had to make do for now._

"_Mom," I said carefully after finally taking one bite of my burger (you would have thought a near-death experience would leave you at least a little bit more hungry). "I noticed… while on my walk… that there was an island not too far away from here. Do you know anything about that place?" I decided it was a good idea to start there._

"_An island?" My mom stood up and walked over to the window, squinting while she tried to look for some sign of it. "I don't see any island."_

_I realized my mistake, and backtracked. "Oh, well, I was walking over by those rocks over there when I saw it. I was pretty sure it was an island… it might be nothing…" That was a lie, but I couldn't let my parents know how sure I was that it was there. Then I would have to explain I knew this because I was out swimming, something they had explicitly forbade me to do._

"_I think I know what you're talking about," my dad said as he wiped his mouth. I noticed he was frowning slightly. "And it's a lot farther away than it looks. You wouldn't be able to swim there; you'd need a boat of some kind. One that has enough gas to get you there and back."_

"_Well, what is it?" I asked eagerly… hopefully not too eager, though._

"_It's called Mako Island. It's not your typical tourist attraction, though. It's mainly a shark breeding ground, and while I've heard it's quite beautiful, it's not a good place for people to go. Much too dangerous. I'd forget about it if I were you." There was something of a warning in his tone. I figured he probably knew I was thinking of going there, but now I wasn't sure if it was a possibility. Where was I going to find a boat like that?_

_Claire, who had looked excited at the prospect of there being a somewhat-nearby island, slumped in her seat. "Darn it," she sighed. "That kind of sounded cool at first."_

"_Oh, I remember the place now!" my mom said, snapping her fingers. She returned to the island. "Your father and I are going to be doing some tests on that place at our new jobs this week. Exciting, isn't it?" My mother didn't notice the look my father was giving her, one that said "Stop talking, this isn't something they need to hear." I've become very familiar with that look over the years._

_I decided dropping the issue would make it easier for me to eventually look into it at a different time._

"_So… we start school next week, right?" I asked._

Since then, I hadn't gotten any more information out of my parents, and there wasn't too much to read about it on the internet either. What my dad had said was correct. It was mainly a shark breeding ground, and although it wasn't off limits to the public, hardly anyone went there. Meaning so far, I'll I've hit is dead ends.

I looked back up at Claire', who was waiting for my response. She was smiling smugly as if she had gotten the upper hand. "Whatever Claire," I sighed. "Just do it yourself." I turned around and left her room, shutting the door behind me.

"Dylan!" she whined. I ignored her and went down the stairs two steps at a time, jumping the last three.

"I'm going for a walk!" I yelled out into the house. No one replied, but I took that as permission and left to go down the path towards the rocks.

I hadn't went there since I almost drowned. Since I couldn't go swimming, it didn't seem like there was any reason to. But now that I thought about it again, the strange girl might be there, if she isn't at Mako Island. _It's worth a shot, _I said in my head.

Wearing sneakers this time, the rocks were a lot easier to maneuver. I climbed over them, then slid down the last rock, almost tumbling into the soft sand below. I caught myself just in time though.

When I did, my hand landed on something sharp, something not a rock.

"Ouch!" I winced. I stood up and looked at the cut. It was small, and had hardly any blood. "What the hell?"

I looked down at the sand and squinted. Something in the sand was reflecting the sun, making it look really bright. _Probably something metal, _I concluded. Bending over, I grabbed the object.

It was a necklace. It had a small silver chain that linked it together, and at the end, a silver locket. Some flecks of sand was on the pendant, so I rubbed that off with my fingers. My thumb ran across the sharp clasp that kept the locket shut, which had a speck of my blood on it. When I tried taking that off, the locket flipped open.

Inside was a picture. It was three girls in some sort of pool thing. The photo had obviously been exposed to water since everything was really blurry, so I couldn't make out faces, but I could tell that the whole bottom half of the girl's bodies were… tails.

I ran my fingers over the picture, almost as if to make sure it was real. _Are they all mermaids? _I wondered to myself.

Shaking my head, I pocketed the necklace in my shorts. I could think about that later. Right now, I needed to find what I was really looking for; the girl.

For a long time, I sat on some rocks near the shore, watching the tide come in and out. It was relaxing, but disappointing when no strange creatures showed up. Well, unless you count the crab that I almost stepped on while pacing the beach.

When a few hours had passed with no sign of any mermaids, I glumly walked back to the house. Once inside, I saw that Claire was making a smoothie.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" I asked her, sitting down at the island.

The blender vibrated, concealing Claire's words.

"What?"

After switching it off, she turned to me. "They had to go talk to their new boss. Some bigshot scientist over at the Marine Park." She grabbed one of the glasses we hadn't yet packed into the cupboards and poured her mixture into it. Then she stuck in a multi-colored straw and took a sip.

"Mmm," she said with a shrug. "I liked the ones at the JuiceNet Cafe better."

"JuiceNet Cafe? What's that?"

"It's that place we went the first day we got back here. They have _the best _smoothies _ever_."

"I guess I'll have to take your word for it," I said. Claire gestured towards the blender, which still had some smoothie mix in it.

"Do you want some?"

"Did you poison it?" I countered.

Her answer was a roll of the eyes.

"Sure."

She poured me my own cup and slid it across the counter. I grabbed a straw and started sipping the blueberry concoction. My sister and I both like the fruit, while our parents both hated it. It worked out funnily like that.

A few contented minutes passed by with both of us sipping our drinks before I broke the silence.

"Hey, Claire…" I started hesitantly. I figured, during this momentary ceasefire, that it would be a good time to get someone else's opinion. "Do you believe in things that, well, other people don't?"

"Like… what? God?" She raised an eyebrow.

"No… more like something that most people think is a myth. Like… oh, I'm just throwing random things out here… faeries? Unicorns? … Mermaids?"

"So, like mythical creatures, then."

I snapped my fingers and took another sip of my smoothie. "Yes! Mythical creatures. Do you believe in any of them?"

"Um, well, I think I need to answer that question with another question… the question being, how old do you think I am?!"

I sighed. "Claire. Just answer the first question."

"Fine," she said. Her eyes looked upwards, as if thinking about something. "Well… I've always thought that humans don't know everything about the world. So, suppose it's a possibility those things exist." She looked back at me again. "A very _slim _possibility."

"What would you ever do if you, I don't know, met one? Perhaps?" I was trying really hard to sound nonchalant. I don't think it was working.

"If I met one, well, first I'd probably faint." I chuckled. That was such a Claire thing to do. "Then I'd try to be friends, I guess. I mean, how cool would that be?"

"Would you tell anybody?"

"No," she answered honestly. "They'd most likely be captured or something if I did. Haven't you seen any superhero movies? The government eventually gets involved, because that's what _always _happens when someone tells someone else." Claire gave me an odd look. "Why all these questions?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Just making small talk."

"I'm your sister, you dork." She walked by me and flung some of her smoothie with her straw onto my face. "We don't do small talk."

"Fine then. Would you rather talk about your unhealthy obsession with One Direction?" I wiped the smoothie off my face.

"Ah." She patted my head. "There's the annoying brother I know and love." Disposing of her cup in the sink, she then walked out of the room and headed towards her own.

"Love you too!" I shouted sarcastically. Despite myself, I was smiling a little.

When I stood up to get rid of my own dishes, I felt the necklace move in my back pocket. I reached in and took it out, looking over its features and the picture inside again.

My eyes flitted back and forth between the window overlooking the sea and the mysterious locket I was almost positive belonged to the girl who had saved me. "Don't worry," I mumbled. "Your secret's safe with me."

**(A/N: I know this one is shorter, but the next one- or the one after that- will be where Dylan starts school. After that, that's when the story will really get going. :-) Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review, favorite, and follow.)**


	4. Chapter 3: Rainstorm

It started raining the next day.

"Great," Claire sighed. Her legs were propped up on the armchair of the living room couch. "Just when everything's in the house and we can finally go swimming, it starts pouring buckets. Thanks a lot."

"Who are you talking to?" I asked her.

"I don't know. You. Mom. Dad. Anyone who's listening." I rolled my eyes.

"Mom and Dad are in their rooms, resting after all the catching up they had to do yesterday." I tossed my plate and fork I used for eating leftovers in the trash. "And why would I be listening to you?"

She grabbed a pillow and threw it at my head. I ducked. "Shut up, Dylan." Sitting up, she took her hair out of it's bun. "Well, I'm going to go take a bath. I've got serious cramps that need my attention."

"Okay, TMI," I said, wrinkling my nose. She just smirked at me and headed towards the bathroom downstairs.

I looked outside our windows at the rain that had been pouring nonstop since noon. There wasn't any thunder or lightning, which was strange with this much rain, but still somehow the weather managed to look _angry_. The rain fell hard and fast, pelting the roof of my house like hail. I didn't think I could step outside for one minute without getting soaked.

And the ocean… it was terrible. Waves sloshing against the shore violently, heavy winds thrashing the trees. I was almost concerned there was going to be a hurricane, if my parents hadn't told me it would be fine. Storms like this weren't uncommon, they had said. This didn't assure me, however. In fact, it only made me more upset that these are the conditions I'll have to be living the rest of my life in.

With a resigned sigh, I headed up the stairs towards my bedroom. The rest of my day, I planned on listening to music that drowned out the weather outside.

I grabbed my iPod and plugged my earbuds in, proceeding to do just that. My eyes trailed the patterns of rain outside my window, and the heavy waves crashing onto the beach.

About half an hour into it, though, I noticed something strange. There were a lot of crazy waves happening out in the ocean, but one of them looked familiar. It only took me a few seconds to realize what it was; the wake left in the water by the mermaid. Except this one was heading towards the rocks.

When I realized what this meant, I threw my iPod onto my bed and put on my jacket. Inside it's pocket, I dropped the necklace I had found.

_I can't believe I'm doing this, _I thought to myself, even as I ran downstairs and slipped on my sandals. _I'm chasing after a mermaid- a mythical creature that I may just be imagining- in the middle of a rainstorm. One that might not even be there._

But then again, I never was smart with things like this.

I contemplated bringing an umbrella, but I didn't know where any of them were, and even if I did, didn't want to run out of time while going to grab it. Who knew how long the mermaid would be there? So I threw my hood up and went out into the storm.

My assumption from earlier was correct. Within minutes, my clothes were soaking wet, and I felt a deep chill lingering in my skin. Squinting into the precipitation, I shivered and ran as fast as I could towards the rocks.

To my left, another wake passed by me in the water. For a moment, my heart sunk. Had the girl left already? But then I noticed that this one was heading towards the shore, not away from it.

_Is it possible that there's more than one? _I wondered. My thoughts returned to the locket's picture, where it looked like there were three people in it. _It makes sense… how could there be only one of species, after all?_

I was only a few feet away from the rocks when I started to hear the shouting.

"YOU'LL FIND IT, OKAY? JUST, CALM. DOWN!" yelled an unfamiliar voice. She had to shout to be heard, I was guessing, over the sound of the pouring rain.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" asked a voice. This one I knew. It was _her_. "THERE'S A _PICTURE _OF US IN THERE. WHO KNOWS WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO US IF SOMEBODY HAS IT?"

"YOU NEED TO STOP THE STORM. WE CAN'T GO ANYWHERE LIKE THIS!" I didn't know what they were talking about, but I figured that I would get in a lot of trouble if I interrupted their argument. So instead, I snuck up behind the rocks and peered over them. It was hard seeing through the rain, but I knew that what I could see clearly was real.

The same mystery girl from before, with the bright blue eyes and jet black hair, was searching for something in the sand. Her fingers dug in the rocks like claws, and her long tail was only partially in the water. Next to her was another girl, with an identical tail stretching backwards. I couldn't see her face, though, since it was too far away and blocked by the first girl's hair.

_They're mermaids. They really are mermaids. _No point in thinking I'd imagined it now.

"I CAN'T STOP IT," the dark-haired girl shouted. "I CAN'T, NOT UNTIL I FIND IT."

"IT MIGHT NOT EVEN BE HERE!"

"I'VE CHECKED THE OCEAN FLOOR. THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE IT COULD BE." Her hands were becoming more frantic.

_What are they looking for? _I wondered to myself.

"THE PICTURE IS PROBABLY RUINED BY NOW ANYWAYS-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT."

"IT'S JUST A FUCKING NECKLACE, TARA!"

_Tara, _was my first thought. I finally knew the girl's name.

My second thought, however, was: _Wait a minute… Necklace? …. Shit. _How could I be _that _stupid? Of course she was looking for the necklace. I had even heard her mention there was a "picture inside"... what did I think she was talking about? _You're an idiot, _I told myself.

"YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT TRUE! IT'S FROM THE MOON POOL..."

That's when I decided- damn the consequences- that it was time I made my appearance. Climbing over the pointed rocks, I stood at the top of the sloped one.

"HELLO?" I shouted, trying to get their attention. Then I realized it would have made more sense for them to know I was there _after _I was sure they wouldn't swim away.

The other mermaid said something to Tara and dove into the water. I craned my neck to see her face, but all I could see through the rain was her golden tail, and a flash of possibly blonde hair. Although it really could have been a light brown.

Tara looked up at me in surprise and tried to scoot back into the water as fast as she could. But she was so far up on the land, I got to her first.

"GET AWAY!" She was panicking now, trying to hide her tail from me. I just shook my head.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR!" I yelled. "THE LOCKET, RIGHT?" Tara paused and looked up at me, shock evident in her eyes. And I swear, the pelting rain eased up a bit. My thoughts wandered to the other mermaid's words: "_You need to stop the storm." _I looked over Tara. Was it possible she was causing all this rain?

With the rain less harsh, I could hear her much clearer as she spoke in her regular voice. "You know where the locket is?" she asked.

"Oh! Uh, yeah." I reached into my pocket and dangled the chain in front of her. "I'm sorry, I found this on the beach here yesterday, and I didn't know you were coming back for it, so…" I stopped. And then I gaped.

The rain around me had stopped abruptly as Tara's face broke into a wide grin. She pushed her wet hair out of her face, seemingly forgetting she was trying to avoid me noticing her tail, and reached for the necklace.

I was about to hand it to her when I pulled it back. "Wait," I said to her. Her smile dropped a bit. "If I give this to you, you have to promise me something."

"What is it?" She sounded nervous. Her eyes never left the locket.

"That you'll come back here. Tomorrow, hopefully."

"Why?"

"Because my sister is an annoying brat and I have no one to talk to." This was when her eyes met mine, and a look of shock passed over her features.

"Alright," she said. "But you have to promise me something in return."

"What's that?"

"You have to promise that you won't tell anybody about me." Her expression was serious. She glanced back at her tail. "I… I know this isn't something easy to keep a secret, but…"

"Hey," I said gently, sitting down in the sand next to her. I noticed that- darn it- there were golden scales that covered her breasts. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." I handed her the necklace.

"Thanks," she said gratefully. Her hands lifted her hair up and clasped the locket around her neck. She was about to start scooting back into the water when she looked at me curiously. "Let me ask you something… why aren't you freaking out at me?"

"For what?"

"For… this." She gestured towards her tail.

"Oh, right." I glanced at it. It truly was remarkable. Slim and strong, there was a seamless merge between skin and scale, right at her waist. At the end, it flicked off into two fins. I wondered if it was fun to swim with. "I don't know. I kind of saw it after you saved me-"

"You said you'd keep your eyes shut!" Tara reprimanded. I shrugged.

"Hey, I was curious. I wanted to know where my savior was disappearing off into. I sure as hell didn't think you'd be a… well, whatever you are. Um, a mermaid? Merperson? Uh..." I didn't want to offend her by calling her something she wasn't.

Tara laughed. "Mermaid works just fine."

"Okay then. I didn't think you'd be a mermaid. Then, I found your locket…"

"Did you look inside?" She looked as if she was trying to conceal her worry, and failing miserably.

"Yeah. But your friend- who left before I even got a chance to talk, by the way- was right. The picture was all distorted. I could only really make out three mermaids in it."

Tara breathed a sigh of relief. "Thats good." She pushed off from the sand and slid into the water. "Well, bye Dylan. I'll see you at five o'clock tomorrow, right here, got it?"

"Got it." I smiled, not believing what I was hearing. I was going to hang out with the chick who saved my life- who happens to be a really hot mermaid- instead of with my family all day. Thank God.

Right before she dived into the water, she turned back and said, "My name's Tara, by the way."

"I know."

She rolled her eyes and dove into the surf, tail splashing behind her. Still smiling, I sat down on a rock and waited for it.

_Woosh! _And there it was- the large wave that rode towards Mako Island. I chuckled and leaned backwards on the rock. It wasn't very comfortable, but the sun on my face and clothes felt really nice. Everything was so nice, in fact, I almost forgot that my family was expecting me to be inside.

Key word being "almost".

"Ah, damn it," I sighed. Claire would definitely be done with her bath by now. I wasn't sure how I was going to sneak in.

Getting up- despite how much I didn't want to- I trekked over the rocks and went back towards the house. Claire wasn't in the kitchen, where the door on this side of the house was, so I figured I would be safe.

I opened and shut the door as quietly as possible, slipping off my shoes. My clothes were only a little damp after my time in the sun, so I didn't bother trying to go find a towel. Unfortunately, I probably should have, since that is how Claire caught me.

"Were you outside?" my sister I asked. I winced, turning around to see her coming down from her bedroom.

"I can explain," I said quickly. She held a hand up.

"Dylan Parker, you are one of the dumbest shitheads I have ever had the displeasure of knowing. If you get hypothermia, I am not coming to visit you in the hospital." She shook her head. "For Christ's sake! I know you like going on walks, but isn't this taking it to the extreme?"

"Um…"

"Don't even answer that. I'm going to make some popcorn." Claire passed by me on her way to the kitchen and gave me a meaningful glance. "Just… go find a towel, and a blanket or something? You're lucky it got miraculously sunny a while ago, dude."

"Yeah…"

"Nothing? Not even a smart remark?" She laughed. "I'd _really _hurry up on getting to those towels."

"Sure. Whatever." To tell the truth, I was too elated about me recent discoveries to pay much attention to Claire's antics. I followed her advice, though, and went and got a towel from the bathroom next to Mom and Dad's room. Then I walked upstairs to my bedroom.

My iPod was still on my bed where I had left it, and sure enough still playing music through the headphones. While drying off my hair, I plugged them into my ears and switched the song. Then I opened my window, letting the sun into my room.

I took a deep breath. It smelled like the sea.


	5. Chapter 4: Swimming

When I woke up the next morning I was smiling. I tried to wipe the grin off my face all day, but it was nearly impossible. I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Claire asked at breakfast.

"I don't know. It's a new day. New experiences."

She cast me a look.

"What? A guy can't just be happy?"

"A guy can. You can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, because you hate it here?" She rolled her eyes. "It's all you've been complaining about. Back in Wisconsin, on the plane, once we got here… I've heard your phone calls to your friends."

This almost sunk my good mood, bringing up those phone calls. All of them have ended badly, usually with my friends having to leave for some party or school function. But I felt like I was floating on a cloud of happiness far above any possible bad feelings.

"Stop trying to ruin your brother's good mood," my mom said to Claire. Then, she mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear, "You know they don't come around too often." Claire, and I, shrugged the comment off.

My mom made a sort of "tsk, tsk" noise. "So, what you you two plan on doing today?"

"Swim?" Claire asked hopefully.

"Maybe." Mom turned to me. "What about you?"

I took another bite of my cereal and shrugged. "Not much, really. Just… hanging out."

"Well, I was thinking we could all go into town today. Maybe see a movie or something, and check out the school."

"Ooh!" Claire cooed excitedly. "I've been so excited to do that! Hey, I wonder what different movies they have here than in the States…"

I gulped. "I don't know…"

"Oh come on, Dylan," Mom said. "It'll be fun."

I purposefully coughed into my elbow. "I think I might be coming down with something though…"

"You were fine a few minutes ago," said Claire.

"I guess, but better safe than sorry, right?"

Claire sighed. "See? I told you you'd get sick after that stupid stunt…"

"What stunt?" Mom asked.

Claire and I met each other's eyes. It was the unspoken rule between us that we didn't tell our parents about any sneaking out or other misbehaviors we witness. I'm pretty sure it's some sort of sibling code.

"Never mind," we both said at once. My mom only raised an eyebrow.

I tried changing the subject. "So, where's dad?"

"Oh," she sighed. "He's sleeping. We had to go in yesterday to fill out forms, and he said he'd finish some of mine when I fell asleep first." Her eyes looked towards their bedroom door. "We haven't even technically started this new job of ours, and we're already super busy!" But I was guessing my mom liked it more than she let on. Keeping busy was her and dad's thing. I don't think they'd like it if they had nothing to do.

"Then wouldn't we be too busy to go out today anyways?" Claire was staring daggers at me, trying to get me to shut up.

Mom waved her hand and took a sip of her coffee that, to me, personally, was incredibly too dark. "Nonsense. If we can't have some fun here, why come at all?"

I was almost tempted to add, "Why indeed," but decided against it. I needed to get out of this conversation, and fast.

"Maybe you three can go. I'll just stay inside today."

"But it'd be good for you to come outside… we might even stop at a beach along the city." Claire squealed with excitement, and I smiled forcefully. That actually sounded great… if only it didn't involve my obnoxious family.

"I really would love to come, but I want to feel better for the first day of school. All that activity might be detrimental to my health." The lie slipped smoothly from my lips.

"Hmm… well…"

"I promise I'll go next time," I added on.

Mom sighed. "Alright, fine. But just so you know, the liquor cabinet's locked," she teased. I rolled my eyes.

"Please. As if I didn't know that the only thing you keep in there right now is gin. Which, by the way, is disgusting." I left my dishes in the sink and bounded upstairs, shutting the door behind me.

My eyes flicked towards my clock on the other side of the room. Five o'clock couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

My parents and sister left for town at three, and I had no idea what to do for the next two hours. So, of course, I turned to my music.

Even while being drowned in the lyrics of Imagine Dragons- not my favorite band, but it was good nonetheless- my thoughts kept wandering back to Tara. There were so many questions I wanted to ask her. Like, who's her family? Does she have some sort of pod? Does she have any friends? Although it's obvious she has at least one, if you could call that one mer-chick screaming at her by the rocks a friend. What's her favorite food? Has she ever met another human before? I was thinking she has, because she wasn't overly surprised at seeing me. I'd seen Aquamarine before with Claire- she practically begged me to watch it, I swear, it had nothing to do with my own desires- and in that, the mermaid is fascinated by humans. I wondered so many things about Tara I felt like my head was going to explode.

When even my music ceased to become a distraction that was working for me, I grabbed my laptop and went onto Facebook. This was only depressing, though, since all I saw were my friends status updates. I checked my Twitter too, but that website is really only entertaining for short periods of time.

Frustrated, I set everything aside and lied back onto my bed. In my head, I went over my options, checking yes or no. I could go eat (nah, not really hungry), I could go for a walk (again?), I could play Flappy Bird on my phone (no, that would make me hate life even more), I could call one of my friends (yeah, definitely not).

In the end, I went back onto my laptop and watched Netflix, no matter how much I was trying to avoid that unproductive option. And I suppose there was some good out of it… I got to squeal over Merlin without being worried anyone would hear me.

Two hours passed quickly enough doing this, and soon enough it was 4:55. With a huge grin on my face, I ran downstairs and out the door. It wasn't as nice as it had been the past few days, with some clouds hanging over the sky, but there was still a scorching warmth present.

I tried to not look too excited by the time I reached the rocks, not wanting Tara to be scared off or anything. When I arrived, the first thing I heard was a loud splash.

"Hello?" I asked hesitantly.

I heard spluttering and coughing, and jump off the last rock. Tara was lying on her back, eyes wide and hand on her chest. Her eyes fluttered, and she coughed once more.

"Woah, are you okay?" I asked. I sat down next to her on my knees.

She turned her head towards me and sighed. slowly "Yeah- cough- sorry. I kind of just breathed in some water on accident." Her head turned away from me in embarrassment. "Yeah, I know, stupid..."

"Wait, you can't breathe water?"

"No…"

"But aren't you a mermaid?" Tara chuckled slightly. She flipped her tail over- with great difficulty, I might add- so she was lying on her stomach.

"Not everything you hear about us is true," she said. "For one thing, we can't breathe water." She pointed to her neck. "No gills. But we can hold our breath for up to half an hour, so… it kind of makes up for it."

"Wow. That's amazing."

"Thanks..."

"Thank you," I corrected. "For actually, um, showing up."

"I said I would. Unlike some people, I keep my promises." The corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile.

"I said I'm sorry."

"Really? I don't recall that."

"Well, I'm saying it now." I liked the way her words lilted in a funny way like the rest of the natives here.

There was silence for a moment as I situated myself next to her. It was hard for me to focus on anything but how scorching hot the sand was at that moment for some reason. All of my questions flew right out of my head.

"So…" Tara started. "Do you…" She rubbed her neck uncomfortably. "Uh, want to go for a swim?"

I blinked. "A swim?"

"Yeah. A swim." Her eyes looked upwards, as if specifically avoiding eye contact. "With me."

"How would that work?" I asked. "I mean, you must be a pretty good swimmer, and I… well, you've seen how well I can swim."

Tara laughed lightly at that. "Don't worry, I promise it's not dangerous."

I raised my eyebrows doubtedly at her.

"Really! I mean it!"

I shrugged. "Okay. fine, I guess." I stood up and hesitated. "Wait, I'm not wearing any swim trunks."

She looked at me dubiously. "You came down to the beach to meet a mermaid and you didn't wear a swimsuit?"

"Hey! I'm sorry. I'm kinda new to this."

Tara sighed. "Alright. Hurry up, then."

I did. I ran to the house and changed into swim shorts so fast I would have thought it physically impossible. They were different than the one's I threw out my window (the ones I still have outside my window that I should probably pick up). Then, I ran right back to the rocks and met Tara, who was doing something quite weird to pass the time.

Her hand was angled towards a small crater in the sand where water had gathered. Her palm curled, fingers outstretched, and as she lifted them upwards, to my amazement, the water actually moved with them.

A long coil of water- much more than what was originally in the small basin- lifted in the air, and Tara manipulated it to form different shapes. When I came upon her, I think she was trying to make a star.

"Woah," I said, amazed. In surprise, Tara dropped her hand. The water dropped with it.

"Oh!" she exclaimed nervously. "You saw that?"

I hardly noticed her question. "That's… you…"

She flinched. "Too weird, right?"

I shook my head. "No way! It's… how did you do that?"

"Um…" She looked down at her hands. "I'm not really sure? It's just something I can do."

"Do all mermaids have powers?"

"As far as I know…"

"That's so fucking cool," I whispered. My eyes met hers. "Can you do it again?"

"Uh… sure?" She reached for the same puddle and lifted it all, in the form of a liquid sphere, into the air. It hovered and started moving towards me.

When it was right in front of my face, I stuck my pointer finger in the water. It didn't feel any different, besides the fact that the water I was touching was floating in the air.

"Awesome…"

It wasn't so awesome, however, when, three seconds later, the entire sphere lifted higher and rained down as regular water on top of my head. I gasped, and glared at Tara. She was laughing.

"Um, rude," I growled. She just shrugged and continued giggling. I wiped the water off my face and took off my shirt.

She stopped laughing.

I raised my eyebrows. "What?"

"Nothing. Just… nice abs."

With a smirk, I posed in the most ridiculous manner and swept my hair back. "What? You want some of this?"

She cracked a grin. "You wish."

Laughing, I sat down in the water next to her. "So… how are we gonna do this?"

"Um… well, I'm guessing it's gonna be pretty easy, but… I don't know." Tara looked at the sand and started pushing herself into the water.

"You want some help with that?" I asked her.

"Sure…"

I stood back up and hooked my arms underneath hers. Pulling as hard as I could, I managed to get her into water that was at least a few feet deep.

She smiled at me softly and said, "Thanks. Now, follow me." Then, she flipped over and dove into the surf. Her tail splashed water in my face and I laughed.

_Is this real?_ I asked myself. A quick pinch of my skin told me it was.

I followed her directions and walked into deeper water. When I saw the telltale gold shimmer, I jumped in and landed right behind Tara.

Her back was turned away from me, and her dark hair floated in puffy clouds. The gold tail of hers was flicking every few seconds to keep her from floating to the surface. It was amazing how… real it was. Its muscles twitched and squirmed like any other limb would. And, it didn't curve near what would be her knees and feet, like someone wearing a fake mermaid's tail would do... it was all its own muscle, one that faded from scales to skin seamlessly. Something about it was fascinating.

Deciding I'd kept her waiting long enough, I reached forward and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun and around, using her hands to sweep her hair away from her face. When she caught my gaze she grinned. I wasn't sure how she could smile like that underwater, teeth and everything showing. Practice, I guess?

"Ready?" she mouthed to me. I nodded.

Her hand reached for mine and I grabbed it.

She started off swimming by rolling in the water slowly. Her tail flicked off at the end when she did, while I had to kick my feet to follow. Tara tugged my along in the water, pointing out colorful things around me. There was a school of fish that swam by us, scattering when I reached for them. Tara laughed at that. She pointed out a bed of coral, in the most beautiful colors. I knew enough about coral that it wouldn't be good for me to touch them.

After a while I felt a tightness in my lungs. I tugged on Tara's arm. Her eyes met mine, confused, until I pointed to my throat. She smiled and swam upwards, much faster than our leisurely stroll underwater.

I gasped for breath when I reached the surface.

"Are you okay?" Tara asked. Her eyes were squinting into the sun.

I nodded, still unable to speak yet. She laughed.

"Maybe next time you shouldn't wait to tell me you need air. How long were we even down there for?"

I just nodded again. Then I coughed. Tara's smile diminished slightly.

"Seriously, are you okay? Do you need CPR or something?"

However tempting it was to nod my head again, I knew that wouldn't be fair to Tara. No matter how nice her lips were looking… (and a small part of my mind wondered how she discovered what CPR even was).

I coughed once more before speaking up. "No, I'm fine. My throat's just a little dry. I'm not used to all this salt water… or being underwater that long either."

"Really? Where did you come from? I'm pretty sure somewhere in America, but…"

"I moved from Wisconsin. It's a state in America, so you're right. We had lot's of lakes, but not too many oceans."

"What was it like there?"

"Um, cold. In the winters, anyways." I kept kicking my feet to stay afloat. "During the summers it could get really hot, but even then it wasn't as hot as it is here."

"Huh. Sounds… weird."

I shrugged, water lapping over my shoulders. "I guess. Especially to you, since you can't go on land or anything."

She looked at me curiously and nodded. "Uh… yeah."

I noticed we were still holding hands, but didn't comment on it.

"So are we going there?" I asked. Her eyes followed my pointed finger to Mako Island, way off in the distance. When my meaning must have clicked in her mind, she snapped her vision back to mine.

"Why would we go there?" she asked, a bit accusatory. It almost sounded panicky, and maybe a little confused.

"Because… that's where I always see you swim off to." She still looked confused. For a moment, I wondered if my guess had been wrong, and that Tara really had no connection to Mako. "It's also just, a, uh, cool place, you know?" I was starting to feel nervous now.

But then I saw it. There, in her eyes. A flash of recognition. She knew what I was talking about. "Oh, um, well…" But she didn't want to talk about it. I could tell by the way she stuttered, trying to come up with some witty remark.

"It's okay," I said, even though it wasn't. "You don't have to tell me about that place."

She licked her lips like they were dry. "Thanks."

I grinned. "Not yet anyways. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other."

Tara rolled her eyes. "Wow. You're real cocky, you know that?"

"I try."

She giggled and tugged on my hand. "Ready to go back under?"

"Yep."

"Sure you won't drown?"

I scoffed. "Please."

Her laugh was infectious. I listened to it gargle into bubbles when we sunk into the water.

We swam deeper each time we went down, Tara pointing out more animal and plant life in the ocean. I spent approximately half the time staring at my surroundings, and the other half staring at her. Part of it all was kind of scary, I have to admit, but I could ignore those feelings and focus on how magical it all was. Everything was perfect… except for maybe when I had to return to the surface every minute or so. It was an aggravating yet necessary action. My brain didn't need any more oxygen deprivation that day.

Probably the most exciting event of my trip underwater was seeing the dolphins. They swam right up to Tara like they were close friends, and judging by the wide smile on Tara's face, maybe they were. Some swam around us, cackling and making strange clicking noises, while some were bold enough to come up and bump into us. Tara let go of my hand for a few seconds to let me wrap my arms around around on of them. Something about the way the dolphin looked at me, so much emotion on an animal's face, made me wonder if it had thoughts like I did.

_Since we obviously don't know everything about sea creatures, or any creatures at all,_ I thought to myself while watching Tara caress a few dolphins' sleek bodies. _Maybe._

That annoying feeling in my lungs and head started up again sometime after that, and I, unfortunately, had to let go of my new friend to ask Tara for help. She brought me to the surface again.

"That was amazing," I said, first thing when I surfaced. She smiled.

"I didn't think we'd see any today, but I was hoping we would." Her eyes shut contentedly. "Dolphins are my favorite animal in the world. They're so…"

"Human?" I offered.

She opened her eyes to look at me. "Yes, exactly. Human."

"Have you met many other humans?" I asked her.

"Yeah." She said her answer like it was obvious.

"Well, sorry. I just wasn't sure how many encounters like this you've had."

"Like with you, you mean?"

"Yeah. Do you take humans out on swims often? Or is it only when they bribe you with one of your most prized possessions?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly call it bribing. I could have made a storm so large you would have been forced to give me the locket back." I hadn't noticed until then, but there the necklace sat on her clavicle, shimmering in the sun. Another thing I realized was that she admitted it was her that created the storm. I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Yeah, yeah. Let me just have that one on you, okay? You've already got so many cooler things than I do."

Tara chuckled. "That's true. Anyways, back to the whole human thing… nope."

"Nope?"

"Nope." She nudged my shoulder with hers. "You're the first human with the privilege to see all of this, with a mermaid as your tour guide."

I gasped sarcastically. "My, I feel so blessed."

"As you should feel."

"Seriously though, I'm the first?"

"Numero uno."

"Then… how come you've met so many other humans?"

She looked up, like she was thinking about something. "It's… complicated."

"How, exactly?"

Her smug smile returned. "I can't have you knowing all my secrets quite yet. How about you tell me more about yourself?"

"Tara, are you coming on to me?"

She scoffed. "Yeah, right."

I sighed. "A man can only hope, I suppose."

Tara started sinking into the water, so only her eyes peeked above the blue, salty liquid. "You coming?" I heard her warbled voice ask from beneath.

I sank in, following her.

We didn't share any other personal information that day, but that was okay. When we returned to the shore, it was late, and I was tired from hours of swimming.

"How are you not exhausted?" I asked her at our return to the rocks.

"Practice."

"Yeah, an entire life of it," I mumbled. Something about that must have been funny, because she laughed.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

My bare feet slid against the slippery sand, grating the heels. "So…"

"So." Silence hung in the air.

"Will, um…" I cleared my throat. "Will I see you again?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you… asking me out on a date?"

I didn't blush there. I fucking swear I didn't. "What? No, no, I… I'm just asking if you're going to come back and visit, or…"

Snap out of it, I told myself. You're never like this around other girls.

She's not like other girls, I heard something else remind me.

"I mean… well…" I shrugged, trying to be as nonchalant as possible despite the fact that I passed that point long ago. "I did ask you if you were busy Friday and you never did answer."

She looked at me curiously. I definitely wasn't holding my breath, or freaking out, or wondering if she was going to disappear from my life and I'd always wonder about the girl in the water for the rest of my existence. Nope. Not at all.

"Yeah. Sure."

This is where I definitely did not breathe a sigh of relief.

"But not on a date though. I mean, I hardly know you," she said sarcastically.

"Hopefully you'll get to know me," I said, grinning wide. Ah, there's Dylan again. I thought I'd lost you for a second there, bud.

Tara started sliding back into the water, disappearing from sight. Her smile stayed on even as her mouth dipped beneath the cool water.

"Can I see you on Monday? At five again?" I asked.

"Can't wait." With one last smile, she dived into the ocean. I sat down on a rock and watched her tail swim away. The gold shimmered away in the sea, and I waited for her to swim towards Mako. But she never did.

Or, maybe she did, but she must not have swam as fast as usual. Maybe she just wanted a slow swim, but I had a feeling she didn't want me to connect Mako to her.

That was alright. I was here in Australia for the long run, which gave me plenty of time to figure out the mystery of Tara.

I stood up off the rock and started walking back home.

* * *

**(A/N: So, what do you think? Hmm? I don't know if I like this chapter as much, but I got a lot of help on this with my friend Clove31, who beta read this for me (thanks girl!). I've gotten some messages from people asking if I'm quitting this story since I haven't updated in a few weeks or something, but I'm just really busy, even though school just ended. I will be finishing this story, and my other h2o one too once I get a grip on it. The problem with my other story is that I was a lot younger and a lot less experienced at writing when I wrote it, so there are a lot of plot holes and unnecessary things in it. Don't worry though, it will be continued! Also, I do not own Imagine Dragons (obviously) and anything else I might have mentioned it here. I don't own H2O either... if I did, Emma would never have left (although I suppose there was nothing that could have been done about that) and there would be more seasons. Please review, it would mean the world to me. And always feel free to PM suggestions to me, for this story, other stories, or a possible future username. Hope everyone's enjoying their summer!)**


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